


Pick Up

by Kat_Greenleaf



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family, Hobbit, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Trigger Warning - Attempted Suicide, Trigger Warning - Some Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 23:21:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4456415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Greenleaf/pseuds/Kat_Greenleaf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thranduil couldn't stand it any longer. He picked up his phone and dialed the number from memory. He had to pick up this time. He had to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pick Up

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warnings for attempted suicide and some violence

Thranduil couldn't stand it any longer. He picked up his phone and dialed the number from memory. He had to pick up this time. He had to.

~

Bard was sitting in his living room with his three children while they watched "The Lion King". His phone vibrated in his back pocket and he pulled it out to check who was calling. He recognized the number, but had deleted it from his contact list six months ago. He wanted to pick up. He really did. He'd wanted to every time that number had showed up in the past week.

"Who is it, Da?" Sigrid asked from her place on the other side of the couch.

Bard sighed. He'd promised himself he wouldn't do this again. "No one, sweetheart," Bard answered as he waited for the ringing to stop before he blocked the number and turned his phone off.

Sigrid and Bain shared a look. That was most certainly not "no one", and they were both worried. Tilda hadn't heard any of this, asleep on her sister's lap. If their da didn’t answer those calls soon he would fall apart. And so would the caller. They were sure of it.

~

Thranduil screamed in frustration. Bard hadn’t picked up. One more try. He dialed Bard’s number and waited. Not only did Bard not pick up, but Thranduil got a message saying that the number he was trying to call was unreachable. He barely heard the front door open and close, and Legolas call out that he was home. Thranduil tried again, hoping in vain that he’d misdialed – even though he knew that it was hardly possible. He got the message again, and let out another frustrated shout. But this time, someone was around to hear it.

“Ada?” Legolas called out into the house.

He knew that his father had made that sound; it scared him – and pissed him off. Thranduil and Bard were acting like teenagers. Why couldn’t they make up already? It was obvious that they both wanted to make up from what he and Sigrid had discussed. So why wouldn’t they? Weren’t his father’s constant phone calls to Bard enough of a hint. As Legolas made his way down the hallway of the one-story house, he heard a click. Click? No!

Legolas ran to his father’s room and grabbed the pistol just as his father pulled the trigger. The gun went off as they both fell onto the floor and Thranduil screamed. Legolas sat up and saw that while the bullet probably hadn’t hit anything vital, there was a lot of blood pooling around Thranduil’s left shoulder. Legolas stared horrified at his father who was still groaning. Legolas was broken from his stupor when Thranduil tried to reach the gun again. Legolas grabbed it and threw it to the other side of the bed.

“I can’t let you do that, Ada,” Legolas said.

The eighteen-year-old pulled off his shirt, wadded it up, and pressed it over his father’s wound. Thranduil made no noise. Legolas looked more closely and realized that Thranduil’s eyes were closed. Legolas panicked. But when Thranduil’s chest continued to rise and fall, Legolas allowed himself a breath of relief – except it came out as more of a sob. He tried to keep himself under control as he pulled his phone out of his back pocket with a shaking hand. He dialed 9-1-1 and explained his situation as calmly as he could to the operator, who called an ambulance. Legolas stayed on the phone as he had been taught. Soon, there were flashing lights outside and Legolas let out another choked sob of relief. The paramedics rushed in and took over asking one question:

“Is he still breathing?”

“Yes,” Legolas’ choked reply came.

Two of the paramedics hurried to take care of Thranduil while a third pulled Legolas out of the room. They sat in the living room and the paramedic pulled a blanket around Legolas’ bare shoulders. It wasn’t long before the paramedic left to go and fetch a gurney. A police officer took the place of the paramedic and took Legolas’ hands in her own.

“Hi,” the officer said, softly. “I’m Tauriel.”

“Legolas,” was the teenager’s short, strangled answer.

Tauriel smiled, “I need to ask you a few questions, Legolas.” Legolas nodded and so Tauriel continued, “What was your relation to him?”

“Thranduil is my father.”

“Has he ever tried this in the past?”

“No,” Legolas began to get even more choked up. “I don’t know why it came to this,” he tried, the end coming out as a whisper before a sob escaped his lips.

They didn’t get a chance to say more before Thranduil was wheeled through the living room on the gurney. Legolas erupted into sobs and Tauriel put her arms around the youth, letting him cry on her shoulder. Once he was calm again, Tauriel asked Legolas a few more questions, got him a shirt, and then drove him to the hospital where he could wait for his father.

~

Sigrid was scared. She knew that it had been Thranduil trying to call her father three nights ago. She had expected the house phone to ring. But it never did. Then, Legolas didn’t show up to school. When Sigrid asked Aragorn and Gimli, they knew nothing either. When the three friends went to a teacher, Erestor had said that he wasn’t allowed to say. But his eyes were pained, and his English class was strangely unproductive that day.

When Sigrid arrived home, Bain was already there trying to do his homework. But he couldn’t focus.

“Was Legolas back today?” Bain asked, worriedly.

“No,” Sigrid answered, equally worried.

They both sat down and did their homework to the best of their ability until Tilda came crashing through the front door and straight into the kitchen.

“Was ‘Las back in school today, Sig?” Tilda practically shouted.

“No,” Sigrid and Bain answered together.

Tilda frowned and plopped into a kitchen chair next to her siblings. She did her homework, a worksheet, and the three sat in silence for a while. Sigrid finally finished and began to put something together for supper. As she was putting the spaghetti into the water, she heard her father come in the back door of their two-story house. Bard came in through the back porch and into the kitchen. He kissed Sigrid on the cheek and Tilda on the head before ruffling Bain’s hair.

“Evening, gang,” Bard chirped.

“Evening,” the kids answered, less animated.

"What’s wrong?” Bard asked. He was disturbed that all of his children were in such glum moods, and that he didn’t notice it when he first walked into the room. He was normally good at figuring that out.

Sigrid sighed as she put tomato sauce into a smaller pot on the stove, “Da, we’re worried. And I don’t know about Tilda and Bain, but I am starting to get scared.”

“About what?” Bard asked, becoming more worried.

“It’s Wednesday and Legolas hasn’t been in school all week,” Bain answered.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. But he probably would be if you’d answered your phone Sunday night!” Sigrid answered, bitterly.

Bard froze. What could’ve happened to Thranduil and Legolas that he could have caused by not picking up his phone? He left the kids alone in the kitchen and hurried to the back room. There, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Thranduil’s house phone. No one answered. He tried Thranduil’s cell. No one answered. He tried Legolas’ cell. No one answered. But there was a knock at the door.

Bard called out that he would get it and hurried to the front door. When he opened it, he saw the teenager that he’d just tried to contact. Legolas didn’t say a word as Bard ushered him into the house. Sigrid poked her head into the living room to see who it was. When she saw Legolas she ran forward and threw her arms around his shoulders as relief flooded her. Legolas wrapped his arms around her and hid his face in her shoulder. Sigrid felt him shaking and she began to stroke his long hair.

“What happened, ‘Las?” Sigrid asked. “We were all so worried about you when you didn’t show up at school.”

“My father had to be taken to the emergency room. I’ve been at the hospital all week.”

Bard felt as if someone had just stabbed a knife through his heart, “What happened?”

Legolas pulled away from Sigrid and sent a deadly glare in Bard’s direction, “He tried to shoot himself,” he let out a choked sob, “after you wouldn’t pick up the phone.”

Sigrid gasped and Bard felt the knife twist. Now both eighteen-year-olds were glaring at him.

Legolas felt tears in his eyes as he continued, “You couldn’t just pick up, could you? He was calling because he wanted to make everything right. It’s taken a month of holding the phone for him to even work up the courage to dial your number.” A tear slid down Legolas’ face and he let go of Sigrid completely. “The month before was spent staring at the phone and trying to work up the courage to pick it up.” Legolas took a step. “The month before that, he started to speak to me!” Another step. “The month before that was spent trying to get him to stop crying and eat properly!” A step. “The month before that, he would barely leave his room!” Two steps. “The first month, he barely got out of bed! He loves you, was trying to make things right, and you couldn’t pick up the damn phone?!”

Legolas was screaming at that point. Bain and Tilda had been standing in the doorway, but had hurried through the living room and run to the back room away from the drama. But not before Bain was smart enough to turn off the stove.

Bard was speechless. Suicide? Thranduil had never been suicidal. He looked at the teary face in front of him. Legolas’ face was streaked with tears. The boy’s eyes were full of confusion and anger.

“Say something!” Legolas cried. “An apology if anything!”

Something snapped inside Bard, “Apologize? So this is all my fault? Is that what he keeps telling you?”

Legolas couldn’t help himself and he punched Bard in the face. Bard stumbled backward and Sigrid ran forward to secure her grieved friend. As she wrapped her arms around the taller boy, Legolas’ legs gave out and he sank to the floor. Sigrid sat next to him and held him as he began to cry. She stroked Legolas’ hair as he sobbed into her shoulder.

Bard put a hand to his nose. It wasn’t bleeding. But Legolas sure packed a wallop. Quite suddenly, Bard was almost knocked over as Tilda burst past him and threw her arms around Legolas’ neck, kissing his tear-stained cheek.

“Don’t cry, ‘Las! Please don’t cry. It hurts!” Tilda pleaded.

Legolas let out a small laugh, which sounded too much like a sob, and held Tilda close to himself. Bain followed and put a hand on Legolas’ lower back for comfort. Sigrid stood and approached her father.

“Apologize for ignoring the calls, Da,” Sigrid clarified. “You and Thranduil are both at fault for what happened. It’s not the fault of one or the other. But if you had picked up and tried to make up like you’ve been wanting to, then this wouldn’t have happened.

“What if he didn’t want to make up?” Bard asked dumbly, knowing what his daughter’s answer would be.

“Why else would he call?”

Bard sighed and looked at the children in front of him. Legolas sat cross-legged on the floor. Tilda was in the older boy’s lap with her arms around his neck, and Bain sat behind Legolas with his arms around the blonde’s torso. Legolas wasn’t sobbing anymore, but he was visibly shaking. Bard felt his heart break for the eighteen-year-old. His father just tried to commit suicide, and here Bard was being a complete dick. He knelt next to the pile of children. Bain and Tilda gently pulled away and joined their sister who was standing close by. Bard took Legolas’ hand in his own and kissed the teen’s forehead.

“I’m sorry, Legolas. It wasn’t your father’s fault we parted so badly. I am sorry I didn’t pick up the phone. I should have known he was calling with good intentions.”

Legolas nodded and Bard pulled the boy into a hug, which Legolas gladly returned.

Sigrid, knowing that all was well, hurried back into the kitchen to continue dinner. She finished the spaghetti and forced Legolas to stay and eat with them; it was obvious that the boy had eaten little or nothing during his stay at the hospital. Legolas stayed in a guest room at Bard’s house that night, under Sigrid’s orders so that he wouldn’t feel lonely or sleep another night in an uncomfortable hospital chair.

~

The next morning, Bard and the kids all got up and hurried to the hospital to catch Thranduil at breakfast. Legolas went into the room first and then had Bard switch places with him. Bard’s hands were shaking as he entered the room. Thranduil was sitting up in the bed – his shoulder wrapped – and eating something that resembled pancakes. Thranduil swallowed and set his fork down as Bard sat in a chair next to the bed. Thranduil kept his eyes trained on the hospital food in from of him, but he did eat anymore. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Bard decided to say something.

“I’m sorry.”

Thranduil sucked in a breath, “For what?”

“For fighting. For not picking up the phone. For making this happen. For causing so much pain. I should’ve known that you would never go behind my back like that!”

Thranduil let out a strangled laugh, “I shouldn’t have let him. We dated once. I had no ring on my finger, and he automatically assumed I wasn’t with anyone. Typical Galion. This is my fault. I just wish you’d picked up.”

Bard saw tears fall down Thranduil’s pale cheek, and felt tears in his own eyes as well, “I wish I had picked up the phone, and I wish I had listened to your explanation before running off.”

“Galion apologized. But I haven’t talked to him since.”

They sat in silence for a while more. Bard was glad that Galion had buggered off, but he still felt awful about his choices. He took Thranduil’s hands in his own and kissed the tears from the blonde’s face.

“I’m very sorry. Can we start over?” Bard asked.

Thranduil smiled, “How about we pick up where we left off?”

Bard laughed and confidence swelled in his chest. He leaned forward and kissed Thranduil’s lips. The blonde responded happily and kissed back. Their moment was cut short, however, when the kids decided to enter the room. Tilda pretended to gag and the other three smiled, happy to see that everything was going well. Both Bard and Thranduil blushed and were just content to hold hands while the two families sat and talked, bonding again after six months apart.

~

Two years passed. Bard and Thranduil were back to their normal love-habits. This particular day was Christmas and both families were staying at Bard’s house to celebrate the holiday. They were all sitting around and opening their presents when Sigrid handed the last box to Thranduil. The box was just about as big as Thranduil’s hand. He looked at the tag.

_From: Bard_

_To: The Most Amazing Boyfriend In The World_

Thranduil chuckled to himself as he pulled off the wrapping paper, carefully. Inside was something that he didn’t expect, and that brought tears to his eyes. He stared for a moment and let a tear slide down his cheek before he put a hand to his mouth. Legolas became concerned, but when he saw Sigrid and Bard smiling, he knew exactly what was going on and grinned. Thranduil finally looked up at Bard, who smiled lovingly back at the blonde. He knelt in front of his boyfriend and pulled a golden engagement band out of the box. He held the ring in one hand and Thranduil’s free, left hand in the other.

“Thranduil Greenleaf. I love you. You have been the light of my life. I messed up once, and you forgave me. We didn’t have to start over, but continued to love each other as if nothing had happened. You treat my family as if they were your own, and so I ask you: will you become part of my family? Thran, will you marry me?”

Another tear fell down Thranduil’s face as the blonde man nodded, “Yes, Bard. I’ll marry you!”

Bard slipped the engagement band onto Thranduil’s left ring finger. Thranduil then fell forward, and he and Bard hugged. The children clapped and joined them in the hug.

The wedding was held six months later, and it was the most beautiful affair either family had seen in their whole lives. Of course, Tilda was only ten…

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked it and that it didn't totally suck!


End file.
